


Kindred Heart, You're Not Cold

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Series: Drucy/Drolly [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Older Characters, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 22:51:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: Draco's had a tough life, but he's stopped moping about it. He understands why a lot of things happened. He understands someone else's troubles, too, when a witch joins him in the park one night.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Done for a quote prompt. Read, review, and enjoy!

> _"There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love." —Bryant H. McGill_

Draco Malfoy cursed under his breath to himself as he made his way home. He didn't want to return there; he never did. It was a well of unhappiness. Scorpius was a saving grace, but his son was planning on moving out soon. With Scorpius gone, Draco knew things would only go downhill from there.

The blond man detoured to a nearby park. The autumn breeze didn't feel like a breeze right now. It was frigid and unwelcoming and reminded Draco of the one place he loathed to be. However, he could at least warm himself physically with a small spell. Spending time with Astoria… Nothing could warm him from her cold shoulder.

He sat down on a bench in the middle of the park and gazed up at the stars in the night sky. He had a crick in his neck, and he rolled his shoulders to work it out. No, it didn't do him much good. As long as his stress remained, so would the knot in his muscles.

The bench quietly creaked as someone sat on the opposite end. Draco didn't pay the other person much attention until he heard silent sniffles. His first inclination was that the other had a cold. Then he realized, after a few more minutes, that they—she, really—were crying.

A long time ago, he wouldn't have cared. A long time ago, he would've exacerbated things.

A long time ago, he'd been a different wizard altogether.

Draco turned and saw a pretty witch…well, she would've been pretty had she not insisted on hiding her face by her veil of auburn hair. Cautiously, he leaned forward. "Are you all right, miss?"

She looked up, her oak brown eyes dark and red in the moonlight. She clumsily shoved her hair out of her face and coughed to clear her throat. "Oh, uh, sorry. I guess I wasn't really paying attention. I…thought I was alone." She averted her eyes to the ground.

"I could leave."

She looked back to him, worried. "No, no! I'm sorry! Stay, please." She motioned to him. "No, really. Stay. I'd…like some company, actually."

After a minute of silence, Draco asked, "Just some company? Not an ear?"

"Well…" The witch took her scarf and dabbed at her eyes, sniffling with an air of finality. She coughed. "I dunno… I think I've got to clear my head first."

He chuckled softly. "Don't we all…?"

"Beg pardon?"

He turned to her. "Our heads are never clear. Even when you get to be my age."

She smiled. "You don't look old to me."

"Uh! I never said anything about being 'old.'"

"But you implied it."

Draco half frowned at her and drew his robes tighter around him. He glanced at her thin outer robe, realizing by the style that she was a witch. "Aren't you cold?"

She shrugged, took out her wand, and heated the bench. "Doesn't matter now."

"No, I suppose not," he commented. It struck him that he'd been about to do the same thing. He kept his tiny smirk to himself.

"Why're you out so late?"

He raised one well-groomed eyebrow. "Is that really any of your business?"

The apples of her cheeks darkened as he laughed out loud. "Well, _sorry_ , you git. I was just striking up polite conversation."

"It's fine, it's fine."

"So…?"

The laughter leaked out of Draco's voice as he thought of his reason. He sought out the stars' audience as he replied, "I don't want to go home."

The witch paused. "Why?"

"Because my ex-wife is there."

She gaped at him. "Why would your _ex_ -wife be at your house?"

He sighed and slouched on the bench, stretching his legs out. "It's been a while… Three years, I think…"

The young witch waited for him to continue.

Draco sat up and forward and leaned his elbows on his knees. He faced her. "Three years ago, I finally divorced my wife—"

"How horrible!"

"No, being with her was the horrible part. I thought things were fine when we were engaged and married for the first few years. But it was an arranged marriage—most of my family's that way—and I still can't believe I ever fooled myself into believing that she and I could work. My son grew up, and I love him, but… He's the only thing my wife and I have in common anymore."

She watched him, obviously waiting for him to talk more. She even brushed her hair to one side so he could see her face. Her eyes weren't as puffy as several moments ago.

"But…my son's a man now, really. He's not going to be at the house for much longer. He's got a life of his own now. He… He was the last thing holding us together. Without him, Astoria and I are going to explode. We have to live in the same house because our shop won't support us both separately."

"Ah." The witch nodded, sending her hair flying in another breeze that came by. "I do know you. You're Draco, Scorpius' dad."

He sadly grinned. "I take it you went to Hogwarts with him?"

"Worse," she said with a frown and puppy dog eyes, "I'm a Weasley. Lucy Weasley. Sorry."

Draco paused and watched her as her cheeks flushed and she again turned her head away. "I…don't hate your family."

"Oh, I know." Lucy paused, wincing. "Ooh, sorry. That came out wrong. I didn't mean…"

He shook his head. "No, I understand. You didn't know much about me except for having dated two of your cousins, correct?"

Lucy bit her lip the tiniest sliver and nervously brushed some hair behind her ear. "Well, yeah… It's not as though my aunts and uncles really say anything about you."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, don't misunderstand, Mr. Malfoy—"

"Please, call me Draco."

"—Draco, but you've only ever come up as 'Scorpius' dad.'"

He sighed. "As long as Potter and the others aren't sharing stories, then I can't say I'm disappointed." He looked askance at her. "Do _they_ share stories…?"

"Victoire and Dominique? Heavens, no." Lucy thought for a second. "Usually they might brag about their love lives, but they don't when…things don't go so hot…for them… Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry!"

"Lucy, please, stop apologizing." Draco ran a hand through his hair and lifted his eyes skyward once more, suddenly feeling young and old at once. Old for all he'd been through, young for having gone through so many lovers in just the past year yet again. He cleared his throat. "I'm…an amalgam of problems, starting way before Victoire or Dominique even existed."

Lucy pursed her lips and shifted on her end of the bench. "What did you do?"

He looked at her. "You honestly don't know? You don't know of the monster I was?"

She shook her head but smiled sweetly. "You can't be a monster to have raised such a gentleman. I'm glad Scorpius and Rose are getting their own apartment together. They're really good together."

He stared at her as if she were an alien. "You really…"

"Really."

Draco sighed, unsure if speaking of his past follies and errors was truly the best decision. However, no one had ever asked him for his side of the story before. Not even Astoria. Astoria had been his bride of convenience. But… Someone was interested in him, the wizard, not the name.

"Draco…?"

He cleared his throat and began. The years as he spoke of them displayed themselves as obvious. He couldn't believe that he hadn't realized the signs earlier. If he had known that he'd become such a horrible monster after being a little prick all his young life… Well, he probably would've done his damnedest to change things while it'd still been possible. Ratting out Potter and the others in their first year was childish. Tormenting Weasley in their second was ridiculous. Taunting Granger in third was pure stupidity that had only fueled his hate for the "Golden Trio." Fourth and fifth… He sighed. It was only a matter of time until it built up to his landmark sixth year.

Sixth year would forever haunt him.

He hated it even now, that he'd almost been a murderer, but he also hated that he'd been a coward in even a life-and- _death_ situation. _Snape_ had had to kill Dumbledore for him! Sure, his mother told him about the Unbreakable Vow many, many years later, but that didn't change that Draco was and forever would be a lily-livered wimp. Of course, he hadn't even really been around for his seventh year. He'd been a Death Eater then, among the ranks with his parents, though never on the same trust level as them. Draco hadn't even shamed himself by trying to finish school after the war and the trials were over. No, he wasn't Hermione. He wasn't Harry either, a wizard who was able to become an Auror right after the war. For Merlin's sake, he wasn't even _Ron_! _He'd_ actually run that popular shop with the surviving Weasley twin before becoming an Auror himself! And what had Draco done? Exactly. What _had_ Draco done? He'd married the girl his mother had chosen—because of course Lucius wasn't there; he'd been serving time in Azkaban—and had a lovely little home with Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass and together they ran a little shop near Diagon Alley. Merlin, he was such a chicken. No, he was worse.

He was a _Puffskein_. Ugh.

When Draco finished, it felt as though minutes had passed. Recounting his horrors always seemed like a fast experience since he wanted to get through them quickly. But it was hours later—at least two, he knew.

Lucy smiled at him, though, not at all appalled. "You've been through a lot."

"I—" He stopped short. "What?" he said, staring at her rather rudely.

"I understand how you feel, always doing something wrong. I mean, the magnitude of your problems were much bigger than mine. They _are_ , even. But I know what it's like to be the screw-up." She dropped her eyes and wrung her hands in the ends of her scarf. "I'm the family screw-up. Something always goes wrong when I'm around."

"What do you mean?"

She met his eyes briefly. "When I was little, it was the little things. You know, crashing into things and breaking valuables. All by accident, of course. But things only got worse as I got older." She released a long breath. "I mean, I'm nineteen now."

Draco rubbed the back of his neck. "I take it that's why you were crying earlier."

"Yes…"

"That bad?"

"That bad." Lucy cleared her throat, taking his silence as an invitation to elaborate. "When I was twelve and starting school with Roxanne and Lily, I was the one that let it slip that Roxie had a crush on Teddy just like Lily. When I was thirteen, I was the one who found my sister cheating on her boyfriend with his brother. It was my noise that brought her boyfriend's attention to the scene and then they broke up. When I was fourteen…" Her eyes welled up with tears at what Draco was sure was a horrid memory. Those glassy, tawny orbs darted to his gray eyes. "Promise you won't tell?"

He nodded. "I don't have anything against your family, Lucy. I'm…even with them. I told you, your Uncle Harry saved my life."

Lucy choked back a sob. "When I was fourteen," she repeated, "I caught my dad with Aunt Hermione. I was the one who told Mum, too. That was the most awful thing I thought could ever happen!" She sobbed and grabbed her scarf, covering her eyes and angrily dabbing at them. "Oh, Merlin…! Now I can't stop…!"

Draco frowned and tentatively moved closer. He offered his shoulder as any other good human being would, and she took it. She crumpled into him as the horrible memories of that time came flooding back. When she managed to control herself, she wiped her nose on a tissue from her pocket and took several deep breaths.

"I was the one who told the family something had to be done about Grandmam Weasley," she mumbled. She glanced up at him. "She… She went crazy on me on my sixteenth birthday. Grandpa Weasley takes care of her most days now."

He nodded, knowing. "My mother isn't insane, unfortunately. She's rather in her right mind. Has to be, what with my father's history, though he's not really mental either." Draco grimaced. "I wondered if I was at a point…"

"I wish I was. Then I'd be something other than trouble for my family…"

"I take it something worse has managed to happen?"

She grinned. "Well, it _has_ been more than three years since I was sixteen."

Draco frowned. "What could be worse?"

"Hmm. Try failing almost all your N.E.W.T.s." She nodded when he raised his eyebrows. "Yup. I tried as if my life depended on it. In the end, it was as though someone had put the Confundus Charm on me. My saving grace was Divination, of all things." She scoffed and sneered at nothing in particular. "Divination, such a soft subject… As if I'd ever need that…"

"Who knows? Maybe it'll come in handy for you… In some way or another…"

"Oh, yes. So I can see what my next mess is. Then I'll try to prevent it and I'll screw up something else entirely." Lucy grimaced. "At eighteen, I was the one that delayed Aunt Gabrielle's wedding to Uncle Oliver. But when they went for round two, I was denied an invite, so everything went smoothly. Apparently I had let in Uncle Ollie's ex, Katie Bell, in the first time, and things went downhill from there."

Draco winced. "That…could not have been good. I remember Wood. And Bell. I won't say anything about Gryffindors, but…"

Lucy gave him a sly look. "Wise, since I'm one of those loathsome foolhardy Gryffindors…though I should probably have a House to myself, considering how utterly useless I am."

"You're not useless. It's more… You seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing's ever really in your hands. It's as though you've been handed the cards only to find you have an incomplete deck." He raised a finger and shook it. " _That_ is something with which I can empathize."

"Hmm." The witch smiled shyly. "I'm sure."

The night's cold was staved off by the spell Lucy had cast and by Draco's arms around her. Crickets chirped all around them, and the sky was a beautiful shade of navy blue. But it seemed like merely a dark blue now. Ah. The sky was lightening. But the mood was darkening. "Lucy…what happened tonight?"

She chuckled, but her voice cracked. "Oh, it's nothing…"

"You were crying."

She paused. "I just… It came out that something had happened between Lorcan and me a few years ago, but Roxanne's with him now, so things were uncomfortable, to say the least. But then something came to light about Roxanne and…"

Draco looked at her. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Lucy pursed her lips. "Well… It was some old water under the bridge between Roxanne and Scorpius. Back when Rose and Scorpius had been broken up for a little bit during their seventh year, if you might recall," she added, to which the Malfoy nodded. "And Rose… Rose called off the engagement."

Draco sighed. "And it all started with little Lucy Weasley."

Her cheeks pinked and she ducked her head in his shoulder. "I didn't mean it! This was history! But we were reminiscing and boys will be boys and it's Lorcan's fault he ever let anything slip."

"It sounds to me as though it's not really Lorcan's fault that anything ever happened."

"Hey!" She lifted her head up and glared at him. "I'm not saying life's easy and should always be that way!" Lucy looked as though she struggled to say something. "I just… Argh! I just wish life and love were _easy_!" She waited a while before asking, "Was it ever easy? With Victoire or Dominique?"

Draco let out a long and slow breath. This, he had not really wanted to reach. He'd dated either sister about a year ago, two small flings one right after the other…though, as he pondered it, he found _he_ was _their_ small fling… "It'd only seemed that way."

"Then why were you with them?"

"Different reasons, different people." Another pause. "How are they?"

"Vic's back with Neville. Dom's back with Sander. All's right with the world…except for Lorcan and Roxie and Rosie and Scor." Lucy wiped her eyes. "Draco, why were you with them?" she repeated.

Draco dropped his eyes to his legs and tried not to think too hard on those fleeting bad times. "Simply put, Victoire and I could be broken together. I was still upset about Astoria and she was still upset that Longbottom was trying to put some distance between them. With Dominique, I thought I could complete her. She was incomplete from trying to shape herself to fix Lysander's constantly cracked heart, but I wasn't the one for her either in the end."

Lucy was very quiet for a while. Draco even had to look down to determine whether or not she slept. But no, she was awake; she was just lost in thought. "Well…," she started, "you can be honest with me. We're both screw-ups, and we should be proud of it. We've made it this far, haven't we?"

Looking at her brave little grin, Draco had the urge to laugh at himself for moaning about his past in even the slightest degree. Instead, he politely smiled, hiding his chuckle, and removed his arm from her shoulders as he stood up. He saw that the sky was indeed gaining some lighter, warmer colors. He hadn't meant to stay out almost all night. He turned to his companion and offered her a hand. "Please, let me buy you a coffee. You did listen to me harp on for hours."

Lucy giggled, a sweet sound, which was saying something in Draco's opinion as he wasn't one for such things. But with Lucy, it was nice. Pleasant, even. "Shouldn't we be heading home?"

"Ah, yes… I'm sure your parents are worried about you. Everyone can't possibly hate you, Lucy. You're…" He stopped.

"Yes?"

Draco wanted to kick himself for almost saying, "You're charming." What was he thinking? First Victoire, and then Dominique. These Weasley girls would be the death of him! However…

"That coffee, Draco?"

Looking at her big, brown eyes, it oddly occurred to him that maybe she was right. They were two Snargaluffs in one pod. Maybe her bad luck would cancel out his. She tripped as she got closer to him, but he steadied her. He smiled, pushing those thoughts out of his mind. "No, don't worry about it. It was an absurd thought."

"No, no. I'd like that."

Stunned—but not showing it as the ever perfectly poised Malfoy he was—he offered her his arm, and they left the park. Really, she _was_ utterly charming. His shoulders rolled with genuine laughter as they talked, and that kink—gone and forgotten.

Yes, maybe her bad luck _would_ cancel out his.

**Author's Note:**

> Hehe, oops. I thought this was going to be a lot shorter. :P So it wasn't. But this was too sweet to pass up! XD I really adore Drucy, and I look forward to doing more. Anyone who's read Week in Hell or Pandora's Little Pithos of Preteens by me knows of some of the things Lucy mentioned. So they're kinda spoilers, but that just makes things more fun, right? :D This fic also kinda goes with "Witch, Thy Name Is 'Fury,'" which is Drolly—Draco/Molly II.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :3
> 
> 2017 note: Hmm. I like parts of this 7yo fic, but I keep thinking of another Drucy I wrote after this, and of other Draco ships I've written since, too. However, I enjoy a mellow post-war Draco. :3


End file.
